These local nut butters will drive you crazy

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Kristen Wheeler of Millbury turned her homemade almond butters into a business called Stirred Crazy Creations.

Kristen Wheeler stirred up a batch of maple-cinnamon almond butter for her daughter’s first birthday party last year as a dip for graham crackers. When guests begged to buy jars from her, it occurred to the Millbury resident that this could be a business. She posted a message on her local moms’ group Facebook page inquiring if anyone was interested in buying her nut butters, and the response was overwhelming. Wheeler launched Stirred Crazy Creations last March, and sells a dozen types of thick and luscious nut butters ($8 for 8 ounces, $15 for 16 ounces) in unique flavors to slather on toast, use as a dip, or mix into hot cereal. She oven-roasts nuts and makes her treats in small batches. Available in almond butters are rum raisin, fragrant from pure rum extract; chocolate chip, redolent of cookie dough (you will eat this from the spoon); and chocolate peppermint, minty from powdered peppermint candy. A version of Nutella is made with roasted hazelnuts and Ghirardelli cocoa. Blended fresh peanuts, without oil, yield a real peanut butter spread. Wheeler already sells more than 100 jars a week through her website and at retail stores. “It was an accidental business,” she says. Available at Water Fresh Farm Marketplace, 151 Hayden Rowe St., Hopkinton, 508-435-3400; Pecorino, 135 Westboro Road, North Grafton, 508-839-9200; A Little Common Sense, 62 Main St., Upton, 508-330-9792; or go to www.stirredcrazycreations.com. ANN TRIEGER KURLAND